Empirical Fitness - Track Your Self

Greetings Fitters!
 What a week! I hope you all have been keeping up with your own fitness. Tonight I wanted to talk a bit on how we determine if we are improving in our own fitness. Many people continue to "go through the motions", finding themselves in the same routine because they either a) are comfortable there and fear leaving their bubble or b) don't know where to go from there. No judgement here, these things are understandable. But it is important that we do keep track of our improvement over time. Imagine spending thousands of dollars on art lessons, only to paint every picture in the dark, and never look at it. Who knows if you're becoming a better artist. So how do we track it?

Intensity = Work/Time

That's it, it's that simple! More work, less time. So let's break this down a bit. Intensity, or power output, is a physical measure. It is work performed over time. Take for example an Olympic rowing competition, let's say the 2,000m. Would it be safe to say that the individual that is more fit is the one capable of finishing the race in the fastest time? I would agree (if you said no, I wish you the best of luck in life, and please refrain from returning to my blog :)). In this instance, the work is set; 2,000m of rowing. So therefore the only way to be more intense in this exercise is to do it in less time. See how in the equation, less time as the denominator would equal a higher intensity? Of course you do (nod your head either way).

So why does it matter? Because in order to determine your increase in athletic performance (intensity), you need to proof it empirically, i.e. with data. If two people do 135 pound back squats for 20 seconds, and Dude B does 13 and Dudette  A does 14, Dudette A is more fit (only in this specific example, and in such an event that they are both going through full range of motion, and Dudette A isn't doing half reps). If Dude B was doing 185 lb back squats and Dudette A was doing 155 lbs,  and they both did 10 squats in 20 seconds, Dude B has done more work (lifted more load) in the same amount of time, and therefore is more intense.

A great way to test whether or not you are improving your fitness? Use benchmark workouts. Benchmark workouts are those workouts that you can use throughout the course of time to determine if you are becoming more fit. 150 wall balls with a 20 pound ball at a 10 lb target. You do it this month and it takes you 8 minutes. You do it again in 4 months, and it takes you 5:30. You are more fit (in the case that you do full range of motion, same ball weight, same target height). Max reps of 165 lb. bench press. You do 10 reps the first time, and two months later you do 15. More work, less time (or same time), you are more fit.

So make sure you are using empirical evidence to support your claim of increased fitness. Can you prove you can do more work in less time? I know I can. And if you can keep track of your own data, you can prove it, too. And this is essential in your lifelong quest to

Stay Fit.

My database. Some sidewalk chalk and a timer. More work, less time.